United Nations

Following are extensive extracts from the remarks of Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, at the 17th session of the UNIDO General Conference'Partnering for Impact: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals' in Vienna on November 27, 2017. Li Yong was re-appointed for a second term (2017-2021) as the Director General of the Organization at the opening of the session. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Industrial development often conjures up images of big factories and heavy machinery. We easily think of production lines and construction sites. This may be. But perhaps, you more than anyone, know that industrial development is more than that. The whole purpose of industrialization is to deliver better livelihoods and improved standards. In effect, it is about a decent life for all people.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Religious leaders came together in support of efforts to build a culture of tolerance and non-violence in Afghanistan at an event organized by the Bamyan regional office of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

More than 30 scholars, including female scholars from different religious institutions attended the event to discuss and review their role in building a peaceful society, UNAMA reported on November 20, 2017.

"Religion is a key factor in peace-building," said Ibrahim Khalili, a scholar, stressing that religious leaders, by virtue of their standing in communities, can be a positive force for building peace among local communities.

Following are extensive excerpts UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks on November 15, 217 at the Opening of the High-level Segment of COP23, the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). After thanking – The Editor

BONN (IDN-INPS) – It is fitting that this year’s conference is led by Fiji, a nation on the frontlines. Last month I visited other small islands facing the impacts of a warming world: Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica. The hurricane damage was beyond belief.

The catastrophic effects of climate change are upon us. Floods, fires, extreme storms and drought are growing in intensity and frequency. Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are higher than they have been for 800,000 years.

The author is High Representative for Disarmament Affairs United Nations (UNODA).Addressingthe conference on 'Perspectives for a world free from nuclear weapons and for integral disarmament' at Vatican City on 10 November 2017, she expressed her gratitude to Pope Francis and the Holy See for their commitment to a world free from nuclear weapons. The Holy See was one of the very first to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Following are extensive excerpts from her remarks. - The Editor

VATICAN CITY (IDN-INPS) - I would like to recall Pope Francis’ words to the General Assembly in 2015, “An ethics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction – and possibly the destruction of all mankind – are self-contradictory and an affront to the entire framework of the United Nations.”

GENEVA (IDN) – A UN report has accused the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh) of perpetrating serious and systematic violations in Iraq's Mosul city that amount to "international crimes".

Published on November 2 by the UN assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the report is based on direct witness testimony, and documents mass abductions of civilians, the use of thousands as human shields, the intentional shelling of civilian residences, and indiscriminate targeting of civilians trying to flee the city.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – While normative frameworks to empower and protect women in conflict situations have made steady advancement in the last 17 years since the adoption of a landmark resolution by the Security Council, real progress in women’s meaningful engagement in all phases of peacebuilding and their protection from abuse and exploitation are seriously lagging.

The representatives of UN member states at the ministerial and diplomatic levels agreed during a 10-hour Security Council debate on October 27 on 'Women, Peace and Security' that progress on the ground must be accelerated by way of more funding for gender expertise in peacebuilding.

MOSCOW (IDN) - Historically speaking, the concepts of disarmament and non-proliferation date back centuries. The international efforts to strengthen the law of war are one of the important origins of disarmament work. Our work today is largely rooted in the terrible human consequences that resulted from two world wars, including the first and thankfully only uses of nuclear weapons in conflict at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We work to ensure the people of this world never have to endure such devastation again.

BONN (IDN) - From Miami and Puerto Rico to Barbuda and Havana, the devastation of this year’s hurricane season across Latin America and the Caribbean serves as a reminder that the impacts of climate change know no borders.

In recent weeks, Category 5 hurricanes have brought normal life to a standstill for millions in the Caribbean and on the American mainland. Harvey, Irma and Maria have been particularly damaging. The 3.4 million inhabitants of Puerto Rico have been scrambling for basic necessities including food and water, the island of Barbuda has been rendered uninhabitable, and dozens of people are missing or dead on the UNESCO world heritage island of Dominica.

GENEVA (IDN) - More than 30 years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, business-as-usual will not be sufficient to achieve progress, a United Nations human rights expert has said.

In a landmark resolution adopted at its thirty-third session in September 2016, the Council decided to establish the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to development for a period of three years.

The writer is UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN | UN Women) - The pain and anger of more than a million people who tweeted #MeToo in the last week have crowded social media with personal stories of sexual harassment or assault. This virtual march of solidarity marks both the urgency of finding a shared voice and the hidden scale of assault that did not previously have a register. When women are almost invisible, when they are not really seen, it seems that people do not have to care what happens to them.

This online outcry is important because it is giving voice to acts that are public, but that are silenced and neutralized by convention. It is a cruel privilege to be able to harass a girl or a woman with impunity, but in so many cases this is the norm.